2012 Washington Secretary of State election
The 2012 Washington Secretary of State election took place on November 6, 2012. Republican Kim Wyman was narrowly elected Secretary of State to succeed incumbent Republican Sam Reed, who did not seek re-election.
Primary election
The primary election took place in August. Under Washington's top-two primary system, introduced in the early 2000s, the primary was designed to narrow the field of candidates to two, rather than select specific party nominees, and candidates could designate themselves as affiliated with any political party, whether it existed or not.Seven candidates contested the primary:
- Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman ran under the Republican Party designation.
- Karen Murray ran under the Constitution Party of [the United States|Constitution Party] designation.
- Sam Wright ran under the Human Rights Party designation.
- David J. Anderson ran as an independent candidate.
- Former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, state senator Jim Kastama, and former state legislator Kathleen Drew, all ran under the Democratic Party designation.
Endorsements
Results
General election
Republican Kim Wyman won the general election in a close-fought contest, and was the only Republican elected to statewide office in Washington.With Wyman's victory, Republicans extended their control of the office of Secretary of State of Washington to 48 consecutive years, having won each of the preceding 12 elections.
Post-primary endorsements
Polling
Graphical summary| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin | Kim Wyman | Kathleen Drew | Undecided |
| Elway Research | October 18–21, 2012 | 451 | ± 4.5% | 34% | 34% | 32% |
| Elway Research | September 9–12, 2012 | 405 | ± 5.0% | 32% | 40% | 28% |
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Republican to DemocraticWyman won six of ten congressional districts, including two that elected Democrats.
| District | Wyman | Podlodowski | Representative |
| 53% | 47% | Suzan DelBene | |
| 47% | 53% | Rick Larsen | |
| 56% | 44% | Jaime Herrera Beutler | |
| 65% | 35% | Doc Hastings | |
| 60% | 40% | Cathy McMorris Rodgers | |
| 49.9% | 50.1% | Derek Kilmer | |
| 28% | 72% | Jim McDermott | |
| 57% | 43% | Dave Reichert | |
| 40% | 60% | Adam Smith | |
| 55% | 45% | Denny Heck |